Morning headlines: Monday, July 18, 2011

The National Weather Service says an excessive heat advisory remains in effect until 7 p.m. on Friday. Heat index values will be between 105 and 110 degrees.

(Flickr/jetsandzeppelins)

Another excessive heat advisory in place

An excessive heat warning remains in effect until 7 p.m Friday.

The National Weather Service says a dangerous combination of heat and humidity will lead to afternoon and early evening heat index values between 105 and 115 degrees through Friday.

Aldermen working on St. Louis copper theft proposal this summer

The city of St. Louis' effort to crack down on copper theft is still a work in progress.

A bill to address the crime is on hold while aldermen are on their summer break. But meetings are being held behind the scenes to revamp the legislation. Alderwoman Donna Baringer, of the 16th Ward, says they realized they'd have to craft a law that works for the entire region.

"Not just St. Louis City but St. Louis County, Metro East Illinois, St. Charles County," said Baringer." "Because if we can keep them from going to find a place to sell stolen items within 100 miles of St. Louis, then we're going to actually move the problem. We're going to move it out of the St. Louis region."

Baringer says scrap yard owners are "on board" with broadening the scope of the legislation. She hopes to have a bill that all of the region's governmental bodies can agree on by the time the board reconvenes in September.

Mo. Treasurer spent $650,000 on newspaper advertisements

Missouri Treasurer Clint Zweifel spent more than $650,000 to run the newspaper advertisements listing the names of thousands of people with unclaimed property in state custody. The treasurer's office is required by state law to publish the unclaimed property lists in general circulation newspapers serving the counties in which the people last lived.

The lists raised eyebrows recently when they took up numerous pages in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and The Kansas City Star. Records provided by the treasurer's office show the state saved money by using the two big papers instead of several smaller papers in the metro areas. The records show the treasurer's office paid $656,724 to run the notices in newspapers statewide during the fiscal year that ended in June.